The next day dawned just as fair.
Yu Jin rose early, performed his morning exercises in the courtyard after washing up, and had just finished a second rinse when sounds of the Crown Prince’s morning ablutions finally began.
Being less formal while traveling, Vice Minister Zhao joined the Crown Prince and Yu Jin for breakfast.
The local gentry personally carried in the tray, while his daughter—a lovely young maiden—set out the bowls and chopsticks.
The Crown Prince couldn’t help but steal several glances at the young lady.
Though she couldn’t compare to the beauties of the Eastern Palace, this rustic flower had her charm.
The Crown Prince, who could never stay away from women, hadn’t been able to bring any consorts or palace maids on this journey, and his heart began to stir.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s repeated glances at his daughter, the gentry’s face flushed with excitement.
Heavens above! What virtue had their ancestors accumulated to have the opportunity to host the Crown Prince and a Prince?
If his daughter caught the Crown Prince’s eye, it would be like ascending to heaven in a single step.
A sharp clatter rang out as a pair of chopsticks fell to the ground.
The young lady quickly picked them up, wiped them on her dress, and was about to place them back on the table.
The gentry hastily pulled his daughter back, scolding: “How can you give chopsticks that fell on the ground to such noble guests? Quickly get new ones.”
The young lady pouted in frustration and turned to leave.
The Crown Prince frowned.
Such crude behavior was thoroughly off-putting.
His interest immediately evaporated.
The gentry hurriedly apologized: “My crude daughter has offended Your Highness.”
“No matter. We don’t need your service here, you may withdraw,” the Crown Prince said impatiently, having lost interest in both the daughter and her father.
Outside, the gentry pulled his daughter aside to scold her: “Aren’t you usually quite clever? How could you not even hold chopsticks steady? And worse, wiping them on your clothes after dropping them—are you trying to be the death of me?”
The young woman giggled: “I did it on purpose! That way those lecherous eyes would stop staring at me. Hmph, don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning, Father. Let me tell you, I’d rather marry a farmer than become a concubine to that leering Crown Prince—”
“Foolish girl, lower your voice—”
The young woman stuck out her tongue at her father and ran away quickly.
The gentry shook his head helplessly.
Well, children grow up and make their own choices. Better not to worry about it and spare himself the aggravation.
In the dining room, the Crown Prince finished breakfast at a languid pace. Knowing he couldn’t avoid it any longer, he said to Vice Minister Zhao: “Let’s go take a look at Qianhe County.”
Vice Minister Zhao secretly sighed in relief.
He had truly feared His Highness wouldn’t go at all, which would have embarrassed all those who had come from the capital.
Half an hour later, the Crown Prince’s party appeared at the city gates.
“Your Highness, please put on this outer garment before entering the city. It has been fumigated with medicinal herbs.”
The Crown Prince naturally didn’t refuse, quickly donning the thin outer garment Vice Minister Zhao handed him. He pointed at the ten-foot city wall and said: “Let’s get a bird’s eye view from the city wall. We can see the whole picture that way.”
Everyone’s expressions twisted slightly.
“Ahem, the Crown Prince has a point,” Vice Minister Zhao said with a wry smile, not forcing the issue since the Crown Prince was unwilling to risk exposure.
The Emperor had sent the Crown Prince to comfort the disaster victims mainly for show—to impress the officials and the realm. Once written up and spread abroad, everyone would praise the Crown Prince’s benevolence. Who would know whether he entered the city or not?
This was fine too—at least the Crown Prince’s safety was guaranteed. If anything happened to the Crown Prince, that would truly be the end of their careers.
Everyone accompanied the Crown Prince up the city wall.
As the Crown Prince had said, they had a panoramic view.
Standing on the wall, Yu Jin surveyed the scene. To the northeast lay vast stretches of ruins, a heart-wrenching sight. Toward the southwest, there were fewer collapsed buildings; that area seemed to have been originally more open and was now filled with countless tents, with tiny human figures visible moving about.
He gazed at all this silently, his expression unchanging.
Having experienced wars both large and small in the south, he had seen far worse scenes many times. However, those tragic scenes had been created jointly by their forces and the enemy, while here, all the sufferers were citizens of Great Zhou.
Yu Jin realized then that the two situations affected him quite differently.
The Crown Prince, meanwhile, was staring with shocked eyes.
The earthquake that day in front of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, with the earth shaking and flagpoles breaking, had terrified him in retrospect and seemed the most frightening scene possible. He hadn’t imagined things could be this devastating.
He even spotted several soldiers carrying a bloated corpse.
Fortunately, they were far away—otherwise, he might have lost his breakfast.
The Crown Prince stared blankly at Vice Minister Zhao: “It’s been so long since the earthquake—why are people still dying?”
Vice Minister Zhao, beyond commenting on the Crown Prince’s naivety, replied: “Those are people dying from the epidemic. Often when one person falls ill, it affects the whole family, leading to entire households perishing…”
The Crown Prince shuddered violently.
The epidemic was too terrifying—he wanted to go home!
Restraining the urge to flee immediately, the Crown Prince asked with a pale face: “Can’t it be controlled?”
Vice Minister Zhao smiled bitterly: “Epidemics aren’t so easily controlled. Usually—”
Fearing to frighten the Crown Prince, he didn’t continue, but a cold voice completed his thought: “Once everyone’s dead, then it’s considered controlled.”
The Crown Prince and Vice Minister Zhao both looked at the speaker.
Yu Jin’s expression remained neutral as if he hadn’t just spoken those words.
By now he understood these people’s plan.
Of course, they would provide disaster relief, but they wouldn’t let anyone leave the city. They would wait it out until people stopped dying from the epidemic, though by then, how many would still be alive was left to fate.
This way of handling epidemics was a practice passed down through many dynasties.
In the face of natural disasters, human lives were as worthless as ants—there was nothing to be done about it.
Vice Minister Zhao hadn’t expected Yu Jin to expose the harsh truth so directly. He forced a smile and said: “Your Highness is too pessimistic. The people gathered in the west are still largely—”
Before he could finish, a sudden commotion erupted.
Dozens of people surged forward from within the city, confronting the spear-wielding soldiers at the city gate.
“Let us out, let us out!”
“Open the gates! We won’t stay here waiting to die—”
The ragged citizens, men, and women, old and young, shouted with numb and desperate expressions, their eyes bloodshot.
The Crown Prince opened his mouth: “These people—”
Vice Minister Zhao explained: “These are the people gathered in the west who want to leave the city.”
Disgust flashed in the Crown Prince’s eyes.
Who knew if these commoners had contracted the epidemic? Yet they were causing trouble to leave the city, showing no responsibility for others’ safety! Fortunately, he had been wise to only observe from the city wall—if he had entered the city, he would have been accosted by these vulgar commoners.
The Crown Prince secretly praised his wisdom.
Seeing the disaster victims causing a scene before the Crown Prince, the Qianhe County Magistrate shouted: “Everyone, please quiet down and listen! The court will surely take good care of everyone and won’t abandon anyone. Look, this is His Highness the Crown Prince, who has come on behalf of the Emperor to visit everyone—”
The crowd fell silent for a moment, then suddenly an old shoe flew up to the wall, hitting the Crown Prince squarely on the forehead.